| Commissioner Gary Bettman
Media Availability
March 1, 2005
See Also:
NHL Board of Governors committed to 2005-06 season
Listen to Media Availability (WMP Audio)
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Q: Will you open the coming season on time, even if it means using replacement players?
GARY BETTMAN: We haven't decided exactly what options we would or would not pursue in the event we don't have a deal. So the option that we're pursuing most fervently, and I hope to encourage the Players' Association back to the table in the immediate future, is to make a deal with the Union. And that's what we're focused on right now.
Q: There's some sentiment that the leverage has gone back to the other side. They seem not so anxious to move. (Ted) Saskin has said they can wait. How are you going to encourage them back?
GARY BETTMAN: I believe that it's in everybody's interest to make a deal as soon as possible. This isn't about leverage, or not - this is really about a deal the League can afford. That's all we've been committed to, we want a deal. We don't want to pay the players less than we can afford and we're not prepared to pay more than we can afford. That's not a leverage-type of situation, that's where we're all trying to do the right thing and be partners. We're going to invite the Union back to the table soon and I assume that they'll discharge their legal obligations to bargain in good faith. And so I'm hopeful that them choosing to not come to the table for some reason won't be an issue.
Q: Will you go ahead and proceed with the draft even without a new CBA?
GARY BETTMAN: No, we won't have a draft until we have the new terms and conditions of employment in place.
Q: You said you were going to invite them back to the table. Will that be with a new proposal?
GARY BETTMAN: We haven't focused on that yet. Maybe we first need to get back to the table and re-establish where we both are. This is still part of a process, it is an ongoing process, and it's one that we, ultimately with the Union, have to take to fruition.
Q: Mario Lemieux said they have to have a deal by May. How do you feel about that, his comments?
GARY BETTMAN: The comments as I read them were, if the damage is not going to get even more catastrophic we need to have a deal by May. The damage issue is really one that goes to the question about leverage. The more the damage, the less money we're going to have to ultimately pay in player salaries. So I think it's in everybody's interest to move forward as expeditiously as possible.
Q: How would you characterize the unity of ownership?
GARY BETTMAN. The owners had a very good session talking to each other and they made clear to each other and to me that we must fix this and we must do it the right way.
Q: Were there any significant expressions of unhappiness about the way this has unfolded?
GARY BETTMAN: I don't believe so, no.
Q: Mario Lemieux said he was going to play for Team Canada and now says he may not. Have you had any involvement in that decision?
GARY BETTMAN whatsoever. I wasn't aware that he had said he was and then he said he wasn't until you just told me.
Q: A window of opportunity between now and, say, a month from now - how big or small is that window of opportunity?
GARY BETTMAN: The window of opportunity is a window that closes a little bit each day. If we announced a deal tomorrow and our fans and our business partners and everybody else associated with the game knew that there was certainty for next season, that everybody could make their plans, we could get ready to have a terrific season. We could talk about the rule changes we wanted to make, we could talk about the promotion, we'd have teams knowing that their economics are squared away. The damage, I believe, would stop and we could begin the rebuilding process. The sooner we begin the rebuilding process the sooner we get rebuilt.
Q: You say you want to encourage the Union back to the table. Why not just pick up the phone tomorrow morning and make that call?
GARY BETTMAN: Actually, we haven't ruled that in or out. I just finished a meeting with the Board and the fact of the matter is we are going to encourage them back to the table very quickly.
Q: With regards to the possibility of replacement players, did you discuss that and what would be the obstacles in your way to do that?
GARY BETTMAN: We discussed a variety of options and I don't want to focus on any one because it would seriously be misconstrued and potentially inflammatory. The fact is, there are lots of options and in terms of briefing the owners on where we are and what are the things that can happen going forward, we discussed everything. But again, everybody's first and primary focus is to make a deal with the Union as quickly as possible.
Q: Can we assume because there isn't a season this year the NHL players will not be in Turin in 2006?
GARY BETTMAN: I see it being extremely unlikely and very difficult. I never say never to anything but since we haven't had a season and I'm hoping to start the next season on time with our players, I'm not sure how sensible it would be to take a break. If we made a deal tomorrow, and that was something that we all, meaning the players and the owners, thought was important, then we'd have to see if we could make it work. But in light of what we've been through and what we're still going through, focusing on the Olympics in Italy isn't actually one of our high priorities right now.
Q: Is there an option other than 'sign CBA' or 'replacement players'? Is there a third option?
GARY BETTMAN: There are lots of options, but I'm not interested in getting into any of them right now. I don't see why that would be useful or constructive.
Q: How do you address the perception that this discord is killing the game?
GARY BETTMAN: What's clear is, the system we were operating under and the tremendous losses were having a severe damaging impact on the game. We're just trying to get a collective bargaining agreement that enables the game to be healthy, to be competitive, to have our franchises economically viable and pays our players fairly and gives our fans affordable ticket prices. We're trying to restructure the business to reflect the reality of our economics.
I think what we've seen, particularly over the last couple of weeks, lots of people are passionate about the game and lots of people miss the game. That's something that we're all suffering through and tremendously sorry about.
Q: How do you handle the fact that some of those impassioned fans blame you?
GARY BETTMAN: If I'm the lightning rod for getting this fixed, there's really not much I can do about that. If the Union chooses to focus on me, because that's what unions do as a bargaining strategy, there isn't much I can do about it. But based on the responses we get from our fans - emails, letters, public opinion polls - our fans are very knowledgeable about this dispute and what's at stake and what we're trying to do. Our fans have been overwhelmingly supportive of the League's position. That doesn't mean that our fans are happy with the fact that we're not having a season. Nobody is happy about that. But it does mean that there is a very high level of understanding as to what's at stake here.
Q: Talking to some of the Governors as they were leaving the hotel, there seemed to be unanimity - people like Craig Leopold and Harry Sinden - that the rinks will be open in October, 2005. That's consistent with what you said last week as well, whether you want to infer something about replacement players or not. But it sounds like you're planning to open the rinks.
GARY BETTMAN: We haven't made any decisions other than to plan to open the rinks and hopefully with our players under a new CBA. We have not been more specific in terms of what our plan will be and hopefully it's an alternative proposition that we never have to focus on because our commitment remains making a fair partnership deal with our players. That's what we're about.
Q: Are you considering any different approaches in terms of negotiating? Bringing in mediators, Hall of Fame players, anything?
GARY BETTMAN: Ultimately, the League and the Union together have to sort this out.
Q: What is the sense of re-opening negotiations if you don't have anything new to offer?
GARY BETTMAN: Frankly, we're now going to have to jointly reflect on the change in circumstances that not having a season has brought to bear. Sometimes work stoppages change perceptions. But I am not going to take a step back and let the lines of communication shut down. This is too important. I think it's too important to our players, to our fans, to the thousands of people who make their livelihoods from our game that we're going to stay at this, we're going to keep working at it. If the Union chooses to continue to not want to negotiate and solve the problems jointly, I can't force them to. All I can do is keep trying. And that's what we intend to do.
Q: Some thought is, you'll never be able to make a deal as long as Bob Goodenow is on the other side of the table.
GARY BETTMAN: I think that's a pessimistic and unfair characterization of the executive director of the Union. The fact of the matter is, the Union has its leadership and we will negotiate with the Union. I assume the Union reflects the view of its members. As long as that's the case, it's not an issue for us to focus on, other than to say let's go negotiate.
Thank you.
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